T is for TARDIS: Legends of Gallifrey
by Vilinye
Summary: Legends of Gallifrey, merely stories told to young children-until the day the Doctor encounters them himself. Minor foreshadowings for NuWho
1. Galaxy's Blood

Galaxy's Blood

"A warrior drenched in the blood of a thousand galaxies, a demon with a soul darker than endless night, a trickster with the cleverest wits; that is what waits inside. Nothing could stop it; no one could reason with it. No one could predict where or when it would strike, stepping down from the sky to destroy worlds. "

"I wouldn't be scared of it," Arkhew scoffed.

"Would you?" Innocet raised an eyebrow. "No one knows what weapon this phantom used; perhaps survivors were too frightened to speak of it, perhaps it was never seen; perhaps there were no survivors. " She leaned in closer. "One day, a good wizard came from beyond the stars. He wept upon seeing the destruction left in this being's wake. Therefore, the wizard used all the skill and knowledge he possessed and created the Pandorica."

"What's that?" Farge asked.

"The securest prison that has ever been made, or ever will be created. Time locks, deadlock seals, time stops and even more. Not even in death might one escape it. The wizard created a trap, pretending to be alone and defenseless to lure the beast in. The goblin came, and the wizard sealed in in the Pandorica for all eternity. He even created guards to watch over it. And least future generations forget the need for diligence; he raised a great marker over it to show the location's significance."

"What about the prisoner?" Someone asked.

"Aware for all eternity, never sleeping; conscious of every passing second till he goes entirely mad."

"I feel sorry for him."

"He deserves it," Arkhew muttered.

Thete stared into the distance. "I don't think anyone deserves that."


	2. Eighth Man Bound

Eighth Man Bound

"DeRoosifa , tell us what you saw, please," Arkhew begged.

"As long as you don't tell Innocet," DeRoosifa held a finger to his lips. "You know she would not approve. In her mind, Eighth Man Bound is a frivolous waste."

"We won't. How did you start?"

"Ah, that would be telling, wouldn't it? DeRoosifa winked. "I won't tell you everything, but it begins with everyone repeating your name, over and over to induce a severe identity crisis."

Arkhew whistled. "Just think what Innocet would say,"

"If you tell Innocet—" DeRoosifa pressed his face against the boy's. "You will need to use one of your regenerations prematurely."

Arkhew gulped.

"I entered a state of extreme uncertainty—rather like staring through Untempered Schism, as a matter of fact. I saw four regenerations into my future, all the way to my fifth self. "

"What did you see?"

"Only to my fifth self—and then I saw…" DeRoosifa paused, staring into his memories. "Darkness. Utter darkness and despair, so much death that never ended."

"What about yourself—what did you look like in the future?"

DeRoosifa looked down at the boy. "Firm cheekbones, sharp nose, and red hair."

"Red hair?" Thete grinned. "When I'm old enough to play, I hope I see a future self with red hair."

Author's Note:

Eighth Man Bound is a Gallifreyan game referenced in Lungbarrow. A young Time Lord would attempt to trigger and hold off regeneration in an attempt to see his future lives.


	3. Lonely Assassins

"You don't recognize them for what they are. Not at first. They could just be any statue. Any statue, anywhere. A work of art in a museum gallery, a decoration in the Capitol. Then you look away, just for a moment. Then you blink. And you learn they're so much more."

The Cousins shivered at Innocet's tone. So even, so cold—but that just made it all the more terrifying.

"They are called the Weeping Angels, the Lonely Assassins, the Deadly Celestials, the Fatal Memorials. They evolved at the beginning of the universe, along with such horrors as the Great Vampires. They have survived wars and destruction, because they have the perfect defense mechanism. They are quantum locked. In the sight of any living thing, they turn to stone. Perfectly harmless. Perfectly safe. But the moment you turn your back, the moment you look away, the moment you blink—they can grab you.

"They don't kill you—that would be too simple, too easy. They send you back into the past and let you live there, feeding off the life you would have lived in the future. They do this with many races throughout the galaxy, but for Time Lords are an especially attractive prey to them." Innocet leaned in till her long hair brushed over the closest Cousins.

"But Time Lords are clever enough to outwit them. Other races, unaware of the danger, are not so clever. The human colony of Naelsha, in the fifth sector of the Vergia quadrant, had heard legends of the Weeping Angels, but took them lightly. Though their race had spread through the stars, it had not yet mastered temporal travel. One group of young boys in particular saw an opportunity in the legends. On a night when the three moons had not yet risen, they walked out of their homes and into the woods of Kaliea, where the Weeping Angels dwelt.

"The boys, three of them, walked into the woods carrying torches. They spread out so far that the light of the others' torches were no more than a faint star amidst the trees. Then they extinguished the torches and closed their eyes. 'Angels, angels, take us higher!' they called. And the Angels answered, laughing. The Angels' laugh is a terrifying thing of its own accord, a harsh sound that could make warriors shake.

"The Angels took the boys' offer. One of them was sent back before Naelsha was terraformed, to die in the boiling heat and poisonous gas. One was met by the last of the chimeria, named for the beast from Earth legends."

"What about the third?" Arkhew asked.

"He was never found. Some say he wanders the void still, lost in the space between the worlds, crying out to warn his friends of the Weeping Angels. They say he is the watcher of stone, the one who stares at statues. But he cannot stop himself from blinking."


	4. Solo Pilot

"A TARDIS is always flown by six pilots. Six is a number of special significance in our lore, for it signifies the founders of Gallifreyan civilization. The three leaders at that time were Rassilion, Omega, and one known simply as "The Other," for his name is lost.

"In the early days, there was one who did not wish to share the rigorous task of temporal travel with anyone else. He stole a half-grown TARDIS, forcing it to form a physic bond with him alone. When it was full-grown, he left to explore the universe."

"Alone?" Arkhew asked.

Innocet nodded. "Alone. He visited many satellites, planets, stars and nebulas. With each trip, his mind melded even more with the TARDIS' telepathic circuits. But that choice would prove to be his undoing. One day, he landed in the middle of a Dalek fleet. His TARDIS was severally damaged when he attempted to escape. With a full crew, he wouldn't have noticed the pain over the telepathic circuits, but alone, the pain was strong enough to kill him. Unable to trigger regeneration, he died. Some say the TARDIS and the Time Lord died together, screaming with one voice."

"It sounds wonderful," Thete murmered.


	5. Just a Fairy Tale

Most stories begin with the phrase "Once upon a time." But our story shall begin with the phrase "once upon all times," for no one knows how our story began, save that once upon a time, there was a mighty solder who loved a woman with hair like fire. Some claim she was a goddess. but others scoff, claiming only a mortal woman could be so contradictory and stubborn.

And the warrior loved the red-haired women, and a child was born of their love. Yet an one-eyed witch stole their daughter, leaving a changling in her place. When this ruse was discovered, the woman wept, and the soldier tried to comfort her. But their friend, a wise wizard, promised to search until he found her.

But when he did, it was already too late. The witch who kidnapped the baby knew that one day the wizard would come searching for her, so she trained the child to be a great warrior, and schooled her in the ways of hate.

The wizard broke into the tower where the witch kept her captive. The child had grown in a mighty singer, a fighter with strange powers like the wizards' own. And in their first meeting, she did essay to kill him three times, yet each time, he turned her blows aside and refused to fight her. Finally, she took advantage of his presence to flee the tower, yet not before she gave him a kiss.

But her kiss carried poison against which the wizard had no defense. He told the singer's parents to find her, while he searched his magic box for a cure. The singer laughed as she fled, wild with the freedom which she was denied for so long.

The warrior and the red-haired woman were captured and imprisoned by a shape-shifter. He came from the future and had seen the terrible destruction wrought by the singer, even causing the death of the wizard. Therefore the shapeshifter did use his powers to torture her, avenging uncommitted crimes.

When hope seemed lost, the wizard reappeared. And he spoke unto the shapeshifter, asking why it did torment her so.

"Do you not wish to see her suffer? She shall kill you."

To which the wizard replied that he was not yet dead, though death was swift approaching. "And by what authority do you claim the rights of vengeance?"

"I have seen the future, and it is my responsibility to pursue justice. This is the singer, the woman who murders the wizard."

"And I'm the wizard, so depart." (Though some tales suggest he used other words far less polite.) The details of what happened next are confused and few, but somehow the shape-shifter's torture was halted, and the singer rescued her parents from his prison. Yet the wizard was still dying.

As his last words, he whispered something in the singer's ear. Somehow, these words touched the singer's peculiar heart and gave her the knowledge to rescue him, giving up the greatest of her powers to save the man she would one day kill.

Other tales are told of the wizard and the singer, but whether she married or murdered him, no legend tells.


End file.
